The Language of Christmas
by BurningtoAshes
Summary: Twelve oneshots for twelve merry days. Fifth, China and Russia: Neither of China nor Russia had people to spend the holidays with this year, so who else would they turn to but each other? UNABLE TO BE COMPLETED. SORRY!
1. Finnish and Swedish

**Hey guys! So, this is the first of my promised twelve Christmas oneshots. They're all going to be published under this one story though. And, as an extra challenge for myself, each is going to be exactly 1,000 words long. Not counting the author's note, of course.**

**Anyway, when I was setting up the schedule for myself, I only realized afterwards that I gave myself all the hard ones at the start. For example, this one. I don't know how to write Finland and Sweden! They haven't even made a real appearance in GEMINI yet. And how to GOD does one write Sweden's accent? I DON'T KNOW. I think I eventually got an okay grasp of the characterization but the accent…well. Just bear with it, okay?**

**Anyway, random Hetalia real life story of the day: In my science class, we were reviewing mitosis; specifically the five steps of interphase, prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telephase. So, my teacher gave us one of those stupid assignments where you have to think up a mnemonic device with the first letter of each word: in this case, I, P, M, A, and T. My friend (who likes Hetalia, but is not quite as obsessed as I am), however, made this assignment infinitely better by giving me a post-it note that said I Pinch My Adorable Tomato. And beneath it, there was a tiny picture of Antonio pinching Lovino's cheek. **

**We then went on to make more. Some of the highlights were: Iggy Please Marry America Tonight, In Prussia Men Are Too awesome to stick to mnemonic devices, Italy's Pasta Makes Anybody Thrilled, and I'm Pretty Much Always… ohnevermindnoone'slistening (For Canada)**

**Thanks Lily! Love you, even though you don't read fanfiction!**

**Anyhoo, enjoy. Me no own!**

**SUMMARY: With Christmas coming so soon, Finland is having a hard time finding time to spend with his self-proclaimed 'husband'.**

…

Finland sat back in his chair, Santa hat slipping until it was the verge of falling off his aching head. He had been at work since Thanksgiving had ended, making plans and checking gifts and going through everything three times over with a fine comb, finding and fixing even the most inconsequential of mistakes. And it had only gotten busier as Christmas drew ever nearer. Sometimes he hated the holiday season. But the smiles he got to see on children's faces were absolutely worth all the effort he put into his job. He was a perfectionist to the extreme.

But this year had been even busier than most for some reason. Everything he did seemed determined to obey Murphy's Law to the letter, and most days, he found himself scrambling about like a chicken with its head cut off. This was not doing wonders for his relationship with his husband.

Er, 'husband'.

Sweden, that is.

He hadn't seen the other nation since last Wednesday, a whole week previously. And even that had only been when Sweden had come in with two steaming cups of hot cocoa that he couldn't bring himself to say no to. When he'd left, a grand total of ten minutes later, he had muttered something like "I c'm b'xt w'k," and bolted out the door. Seeing as that sentence was even more unintelligible than usual, Finland had brushed it off as some weird good-bye. Still…he had kind of hoped that it had been a "I'll come back next week," but it was nearing nine o'clock and the other nation had yet to show his terrifying face. He was really craving some of that hot cocoa…

Finland massaged his temples, brows furrowing in concentration. He still needed to perfect his present schedule as he was running a little bit overtime according to his plans. Maybe he should not save Helsinki for last? He could always spend his night in Lapland instead, just one more night before heading home officially. It was really the easier option but…he kind of missed his bed…

Well, as a last resort then. He made a painstakingly neat note on the notepad in front of him, letters all uniform and even. He threw his pen down then, resting his head on his hands. He could just take a short break now…couldn't…he…?

"Y' look like yer I' some work done," Finland jolted upright at the voice, spinning around in surprise. Berwald stood behind him, hat pulled down over his ears and his version of a smile sitting on his face tremulously. A thermos was held in each hand, and he held one of them out to Finland invitingly. "I brought y' some cocoa."

Finland grabbed it from his hand greedily, opening it up and taking a much-needed gulp. Sweden continued to awkwardly hover over him until the smaller nation finally noticed and told him to pull up a chair. Sweden did so, sitting down slowly. Every motion he made he did without taking his eyes off him in that creepy yet somehow sweet way of his. He didn't open his own thermos, instead just turning it in his hands for the warmth of it. "Thanks, Sweden! I really needed this."

"N' pr'blem," Finland had always noticed that when Sweden got nervous, his vowels starting going away at even faster rates than normal. He stared at the thermos twisting around in his hands. "Anyway, I w's wonderin'…"

Finland paused in his eager consummation of the warm drink in his hand to glance up at the other nation. Something that resembled a blush was painting Sweden's cheeks. This was unusual. The bigger nation never really had a way with words, but he was never _this_ shy and uncertain. He found himself lowering the thermos to place his whole attention on the other. He frowned slightly as he spoke. "Yes? What were you wondering about then?"

"W'll I w's wonderin'…" Sweden trailed off again, then took in a large breath. "'f ya would sp'nd Chr'stm's w' me."

"Sweden…you know that-"

"N't Chr'stm's Eve," Sweden said impatiently, and even after spending so much time with him over the years, the expression on his face made Finland draw back a little in fear. "I know ya c'n't spend tha' w' me. I m'nt, would ya spend Ch'rstm's Day 't m' house?"

Finland glanced at the papers in front of him desperately. Ah, he wanted to go, but…"I mean, I'd love to, but my plans aren't-"

"I'll p'ck y'up fr'm wherever th' night leaves ya," Sweden mumbled, finally working up the nerve to look Finland directly in the eye. "I want t' be able t' spend it w' m' wife."

"For the last time, I'm a boy!"

"Finland."

Finland stopped talking, hot chocolate forgotten now. Sweden was looking at him gently, probably still terrifying for anyone other than him, but it was somehow still less scary than usual. Finland blushed, pulling on the Santa hat so it covered the top part of his face. "I'm just always so exhausted on Christmas, and probably most of what I'll be doing the whole time I'm there is sleeping. It'd be really boring for you to have me there."

"Ya could n'ver be borin' ta me, Finland," Sweden said, still giving the smaller nation his strained version of a smile. "Yer m'wife."

Somehow, Finland didn't find the declaration as embarrassing this time. He nodded, raising his hands in defeat. The Santa hat finally slipped off his head as he did so, and with it went all of the worries that had been stacking up on his shoulders since the holiday season had begun. Something had changed here, in this short little exchange. There had been a shift in their relationship that brought the blood rushing happily up to Finland's cheeks. Something had changed for the better.

"Seriously, though, stop calling me your wife all the time. I'm very clearly a male."

Glare.

"O-Okay, n-never mind…"

Christmas was going to be fun this year.

…

**After this, we have Switzerland and Liechtenstein!**

…

**Kill me.**

**Read and review please! Hyvää joulua! God jul!**


	2. German

**Hiya! Welcome back to THE LANGUAGE OF CHRISTMAS!**

**This one is much better than yesterday's. I think that as we go on, they're going to get better and better as I get used to writing them. Liechtenstein and Switzerland are just so fun to write!**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

**SUMMARY: This was the first year that Liechtenstein had ever wanted to decorate so much, and, frankly, it was starting to tire Switzerland out.**

**...**

Switzerland did not like to decorate. It wasn't an unjustified hatred in the slightest though; he had a whole list of reasons why he did not like to decorate. Allow him to elaborate.

Decorations cost money. Switzerland had never seen the necessity of decorations; therefore he had never seen the necessity of spending so much money on them. It may sound stingy, but it was true.

Decorations took too much time. His house was relatively big, being a nation and all, and he didn't like keeping too much help around. So, if he was to decorate, he'd have to do it basically all himself, and he didn't feel like sacrificing that much of his precious time just to make his home glow in the dark like…some gaudy thing.

Decorations were obnoxious. They were showy. And flashy. And 'look-at-me-look-at-me'. And while that might be appropriate for people like America and France, Switzerland did not approve of this.

And finally, he just didn't like it. Does he really need more of a reason than that?

However, Liechtenstein had come up to him this year with those infernally irresistible puppy dog eyes and absolutely begged him for a Christmas tree. It hadn't been so bad with just that. But then she had told him to _trim_ it, and then got annoyed, or as annoyed as someone like her could ever get, with him for actually clipping off the edges. How was he supposed to know that trimming the tree meant to decorate it?

As an apology for that, she had demanded that wreaths be put up on all the doors. Later that week, he had come home to find red berried vines winding their way through the entirety of his house. Only the next day and there were Christmas lights up outside. Christmas lights! How much longer until there was an inflatable Santa in a reindeer sled up on his roof? For God's sake, Prussia had come by the other day and even _he_ had done a double take at seeing it all. And Switzerland had seen the other country's usual decorations before. They were far from modest. If even the "awesome" Prussia himself was slightly disturbed by the amount of spirit his house was displaying, there was obviously way, way too much.

It was time to stage an intervention now. It had been cute at first, but now it was just too much. For that reason, he had told his sister yesterday that he needed to have a discussion with her in order to settle some business. She had agreed from where she was placing a Santa statue around the corner to his bedroom, asking if they could do it the next day because she was just so busy. He had consented nto seeing the harm. However, he had immediately regretted doing this the next morning when he shot the Santa statue though the heart.

What? It had just been reflex! He had thought it had been some sort of intruder! He really couldn't be blamed for being taken off guard by a life-sized statue in a red fluffy suit and a ridiculously fluffy white beard. Why did children like to think that this guy came down the chimney into their houses? That was just weird!

Now, he sat in his armchair, with Liechtenstein fidgeting nervously on the couch across from him. She refused to look at him, staring at the twisting hands in her lap instead, unexplainably nervous in the face of his exasperation. She was wearing the Christmas sweater that he had bought her last week. He had seen it while shopping last week and had had to buy it for her, having had money left in his monthly expenses anyway. Although with all this decoration, it could be that that was no longer the case. It was too big for her, falling down to about mid-thigh, and only her fingertips poked out from beneath its sleeves. It made her look even tinier than she normally was, as if it was just a china doll sitting across from him and not his flesh and blood sister. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Liechtenstein."

"Y-Yes?"

"I appreciate that you're trying to get into the spirit of Christmas," he said, trying to find the words to express exactly what he wanted to say. "But I think it's about time you stop decorating."

He thought silently of the probably still-smoking Santa near his bedroom.

"O-Oh, I'm sorry!" his sister burst out, finally lifting her head to look at him. He immediately wished that she hadn't. Her eyes were brimming with unshed tears, anxious beyond belief at his disapproval and it made him feel cruel and unreasonable to be telling this to her. "I-I just…well, I don't know. We've never had a great big Christmas celebration before, and I just wanted it to be fun for us to wake up on Christmas morning to a wonderland, you know. B-But you're right, I shouldn't have… I'm sorry. I thought that it would make you happy."

"Liechtenstein…" Oh great, now he was feeling guilty. Her head had lowered again and she reached up with one wool-covered hand to wipe at her eyes. He faltered. He couldn't bear to see her cry. "It's fine. Keep decorating if you want. It is nice in a way. Just…don't put any more Santas near my room. I can't guarantee their safety."

Her head shot up, tears already drying. "Really?"

He smiled at her benevolently, his lips twitching a bit as he thought about all this was going to cost him in the long run. "Really."

"Thanks, Brother!" she exclaimed, jumping off the couch and flying out the living room door. She stopped for a moment and turned around, coming back to his chair to give him a kiss on the cheek. "I love you!"

When he came home the next day to find a giant inflatable Santa on his roof, he couldn't really care.

…

**Hope you enjoyed that! Now, I've got to go work on GEMINI. I wrote two thousand words yesterday but I'm still a little behind on my schedule. This is the second to last Feliciano chapter before the fair, can you believe it? I can't. We're almost to the midpoint of the story. I can hardly believe it.**

**Please review! Next time here, we've got Prussia and Canada. Fröhliche Weihnachten!**


	3. Prussian and Canadian

**Yo! This story isn't very popular. I can't blame you- I'm seriously lacking inspiration on these. This one is definitely better though. Improving slowly but steadily.**

**Anyway, here's the third day! I don't own Hetalia**

**SUMMARY: Prussia had never been much of a Christmas kind of guy, but Canada made him kind of want to celebrate.**

…

Prussia could never consider himself a Christmas-y kind of person. Sure, he had elaborate decorations and sang drunken carols through the night and bought rather ill-thought out presents, but that was to annoy West more than anything. And it was not to say that he wasn't religious- he still remembered the days of the Teutonic Knights. He just wasn't very into the whole holiday season. That was it, no secret hatred of baby Jesus or Scrooge-like experiences. Holidays just didn't excite him in general, ever since he had been stripped of his status as a nation. Usually, he'd look forward to a holiday in France or Spain, but nowadays…every day was a vacation for him, so that was nothing new or special.

He never really got presents either. West would always give him a to-do list or cleaning supplies, something which his books probably told him was a good way to send a subtle hint. Ita-chan would always send over some sort of pasta recipe, but they had been getting weirder and weirder as the years passed. Last year, it had been fettuccini in broccoli-avocado sauce, which Prussia had not had it in him to try. Romano sometimes sent him a card, usually saying along the lines of "_Buon Natale_, Potato Bastard's not-awesome brother," and basically screamed that Italy and Spain had made him send it.France and Spain always sent him things, but they were always some sort of inside joke, not anything that he could put to use as entertainment. They were always funny, but ended up gathering dust in the long run. And, of course, there was Hungary, who usually gave him money (or a gift card as of more recently) out of some obligation to him, signing Austria's name under it for him as well. Prussia never used them. He was too awesome to want her pity-gifts.

These so-called happy holidays never made him very happy. But, somehow, this year…

He and Canada had known each other on more than a "Oh, yeah, that guy" level for a year or two now. The quiet nation was one of the few that still respected him as a nation now, who still remembered all that he had accomplished in the past; good and bad.

In return for that, Prussia always made sure to remember him and not confuse him with his unawesome brother. It wasn't hard. He didn't see how anyone could think that they looked alike. But that wasn't the point here.

The point was that, for whatever weird, strange, twisted reason, Canada kind of made him want to celebrate.

They had only known each other for one Christmas before this. Prussia had been utterly surprised to find one more package among his usual five, even more so when he had torn it open and discovered a package of pancake mix and a bottle of maple syrup._ Let's have some later, okay?_ was all the note read, but it was all Prussia needed to know who it was from. He had immediately bolted out the door, leaving the other presents unopened on the group, grabbing his wallet and rushing to the store. He hadn't bought the Canadian anything in return.

He ended up getting him a large white stuffed bear with a huge red maple leaf emblazoned on its chest. _For when you can't carry a live bear around_, he had written, before hesitating and adding, _pancakes on Wednesday?_

That had been last year. This year, after having been dating a total of five months, they were spending Christmas together in Canada. And Prussia was definitely in the celebratory kind of mood. That wasn't even touching on the feeling of how awesomely happy he was. He was practically _giddy_ from the Christmas spirit (both the alcoholic kind and the other kind) rushing around inside him. Winter in Germany had nothing on this place, at least in his opinion.

West would probably kick his ass for saying that. He was very proud of his Christmas celebrations.

Right now though, he was sipping a mug of eggnog, Gilbird nestled in the fluff of the Santa hat he was wearing and Kumasomethingorother curled up and sleeping on his bare feet. Canada was at the store, getting ingredients for dinner. He would be back any second. The fireplace in front of him sent waves of heat on his face, a pleasant shudder running down his spine. There was nothing flashy, nothing momentous and life-changing happening, and that was just how Prussia liked it. There was still more than a week until Christmas, but it somehow felt that it would be just tomorrow. This was, by far, the awesomest holiday he had ever had.

He heard the front door open and his sleepy eyes turned to see Canada kicking off his shoes, bags held firmly in one hand. Little specks of white nested in his hair from the light snow outside. Kumabear lazily left his feet, making Prussia scowl as they were exposed to the freezing air, and sauntered slowly over to its master. Canada patted its head once before looking at Prussia with a slightly bemused smile.

"Why are you wearing the Santa hat?" he laughed, heading towards the kitchen. Left without his personal foot heater, Prussia hauled himself up to follow him. "It's a little odd on you."

Prussia shrugged. "Gilbird likes it."

"I can see that."

The not-nation helped him as he unpacked the groceries. He had learned that it was a requirement for staying in Canada's house, and he had gotten into the habit of cleaning up after himself lately, even going so far as to organize the guest room without Canada's prompting. It had been a tiresome and pointless task, but Canada's smile afterwards had made it worth it.

"Pancakes tonight. Is that good with you? I'll make wurst too."

"Awesome!"

Prussia had never celebrated Christmas much, because he had never had anyone to celebrate it with. But this year, Canada was more than enough for him.

…

**Yay! I'm done! Tomorrow is going to be Poland and Lithuania, so look forward to that!**

**Read and review! Have an awesome Christmas, eh?**


	4. Polish and Lithuanian

**Fa la la la la! ****Christmas! Four hour rehearsal! Yippee!**

**Anyway, enjoy! I don't own.**

**SUMMARY: Poland drags Lithuania along on a shopping trip to buy Christmas presents for everyone**

…

Somehow, Lithuania always got dragged along on Poland's insane all-day shopping trips. He would just be minding his own business over at his house and then suddenly the blond would be tapping on his bedroom window (which was three stories up mind you) and gesturing for him to come outside. It used to give him a heart attack every time he showed up. But now his life had shifted so much that it was more surprising when he didn't show up than when he did. That was probably not the best habit to fall into, now that he thought about it.

But, anyway, he had been expecting a tap on his window to come for several days now, seeing as Christmas was approaching fast, and one of Poland's favorite things to do was Christmas shop. He always insisted on finding the perfect gift for each and every nation, by which he meant each and every nations he was friends with which, while a large number, was not quite every single one.

Lithuania, on the other hand, had done his shopping weeks ago, beating the rush of holiday crowds. It wasn't like he'd had an unfathomable number of presents to buy. Just Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, America, and, of course, Poland. He'd had a pretty good idea of what to get all of them this year too, so it had only taken four hours to wrap everything up, two of those being spent on Poland's present alone. He was probably the only one who would take the time to examine what he was given carefully, so his was the only one that Lithuania expended any unnecessary energy on. Besides, he liked buying stuff for Poland. He was always very mysterious about what he wanted, so Lithuania always had to basically figure it out on his own. It was like a challenge. Sometimes he would get it wrong and sometimes he would get it right, and Poland never begrudged him any of those times.

_Tap tap tap._

Lithuania jolted upright from where his head was resting on his desk, looking over to the window to see a smiling Poland waving at him. The blond mouthed something that looked like, "Let's go."

So, Lithuania, being the obedient type, went to find his jacket and met Poland on his front stoop. It was snowing a little bit, the white specks sticking in his hair and melting on his ears. He hadn't been able to find his gloves, so he shoved his hands deep inside his pockets. The cold still seeped through to them, making him shiver. "Where are we going today then?"

"Only the best place ever!" Poland exclaimed, grabbing him by the upper arm. He pulled him along towards his care, only having to deal with the slightest bit of resistance from his cold friend. "The mall!"

"Probably should have guessed…"

Lithuania drove there. He didn't particularly trust Poland's ability to steer a car, especially in his enthusiastic state. He would probably end up swerving all over the place like he was drunk and then killing them both in a fiery crash. Their bodies would be burned beyond all recognition, the car totaled beyond any identification. It would be weeks until anybody noticed that they were missing. Up in heaven, or even hell, Poland would probably still make him go shopping.

He had a rather morbid imagination. He blamed his time with Russia for it. He had seen horrors beyond imagination in his time as a nation and that carried over into his subconscious mind. But, even if it was just him being paranoid…he still chose to drive.

The mall was crowded, but that was just the way Poland liked it. He liked how you had to fight through the hustle and bustle of the crowd and act fast to pick up whatever you wanted before someone swooped in and snatched it from you. Lithuania hated crowds. He was an exceedingly polite and patient person, and the rough world of holiday shopping was not one in which he enjoyed participating in. But, for Poland, he was stomach it. The blond nation had grabbed his hand as soon as he had relinquished them from his pockets, and begun to drag him through the stores, picking a video game for America, a special pot for Italy that he had been begging for, a memory card for Hungary who had complained that hers was too small, hovering over a pair of pajamas patterned with baby chicks before shaking his head and turning away.

It astonished Lithuania how he could remember all these things people had said from the years and then apply them to his gift choices. Lithuania could never be so talented. Lithuania could never care so much what he got someone to be so talented.

And maybe that was the real reason that he admired Poland so much. The blond had such a huge heart that he covered with a fake smile and too many 'likes' and an almost too-feminine love of shopping. Poland astounded him every day. He wouldn't ever want him not to. He leaned down to kiss his friend on the cheek just as he was looking a rack of electronics for Estonia. The other nation looked up at him, surprised, but happy. He didn't say anything, merely picking up a pile of cords and saying, "Do you, like, think he would like this?"

"I don't have a clue as to what it is," Lithuania answered honestly. "So, yeah, probably."

Somehow, Lithuania always got dragged along on Poland's insane all-day shopping trips. He never thought he was going to have fun while there, but somehow, he always did. He wasn't really even dragged anymore. He couldn't ever say no to Poland, and Poland knew that.

"No! You are not getting Latvia a bottle of vodka for Christmas. That's a horrible idea! He shouldn't even be drinking."

"Aw, come on Liet!"

"…Fine. But only one!"

He really couldn't ever say no.

…

**Thanks for reading! Next time, we're going to have Russia and China!**

**Review please. Wesołych Świąt! Linksmų Kalėdų!**


	5. Russian and Chinese

**I love writing long paragraphs that take up like a quarter of the page. It's so much fun!**

**Anyway, enjoy! This is day 5.**

**SUMMARY: Neither of China nor Russia had people to spend the holidays with this year, so who else would they turn to but each other?**

…

Russia's family had left him. He had used to live in a house full of people, back when he was a part of the Soviet Union. Ukraine was always humming, bouncing around the house energized and ready to go, until someone made a comment about her breast size, where she would burst into tears and leave said person to suffer Russia's wrath. Belarus had followed him around and, while it had been creepy most of the time, she could be cute as well. Latvia had always been shaking and quaking and tripping over his words in the most amusing way, and he had only gotten mad at him for it occasionally because he was just so funny! Estonia had holed away with his computer and gadgets, probably plotting his demise, although he never got a chance to enact whatever crazy plans he thought up. Lithuania had been the only competent one, and Russia had relied on him for a lot, more than he would ever say. Prussia had been there too, but he was always in his room being depressed, so it was easy to forget that. And there had been others as well- Kazakhstan and Moldova among others- but they weren't the main ones he missed. In fact, he didn't really miss any of the former Soviet states individually, but rather as a group.

He hated being alone in this gigantic house. It had been made for sixteen, not for one. And yet he couldn't bring himself to move and leave the memories behind him. The ghosts kept him company. Looking back now, he knew that it could have never worked out. Communism was not the right type of government for him; he had to agree with America on that point now as much as it annoyed him to agree with that country on anything. He was much better off as a country.

He was much worse off as a human being. No one kept him company anymore.

China's family had left him. He had raised these children from their babyhood, way back when he was a younger country, although even then he hadn't been that young. Japan had separated himself from him with a stroke of his katana, and their relationship was strained to this day. Korea was still his clingy self of course, but he didn't seek out his brother any more, never stopping by just to stop by. Taiwan had never liked him very much and only exchanged the common courtesies now. Hong Kong…well, Hong Kong blew his stuff up every once in a while, but their relationship never went further beyond China scolding him for ruining another perfectly good oven; he blamed England for that one. Vietnam and Thailand and all the others too, they only came by to see him as countries anymore, never as the people he had once known them to be.

He hated being alone in this ancient house. His bones ached with the memories wherever he went, of small children throwing themselves on his shoulders and hiding under his robes. The little ghosts warmed his heart and then cooled it again when he realized that they were just that; ghosts. Nothing more. It was good that they had grown up to become their own people. That was what he had raised them for, after all. He just wished that they hadn't had to leave him behind in the process of doing that. He had loved them like his siblings, like his children. As a country that meant nothing.

As a human being, that meant everything. No one kept him company anymore.

With two lonely people such as this, both longing for the same things, it only made sense that they would turn to each other in the holiday season.

China sat across from Russia, holding a mug of hot cocoa in his hands, trying to grimace as he took a sip. The other country had not put nearly enough chocolate in it. Russia merely smiled at him pleasantly, before taking a sip of his own cup like it was the most delicious thing in the world. He sighed happily before addressing his visitor with a friendly tone, "So, China. As much as I like visitors, I must ask you what brings you to my house so late at night."

This guy was creepy, China thought to himself silently. This guy was really, really creepy. But he had known Russia for a while now, and was pretty sure that he meant no harm. Emphasis on the 'pretty sure', "I was wondering if I could stay here for the next week or so."

Russia paused in the middle of a sip to glance at China in surprise. The other country was looking away, studying some picture on the far wall. He knew he had a picture there, but he for some reason could not remember what it was of. It would be rude, not to mention idiotic, to turn his back on a guest just to check however. "Why do you want to stay here?"

"My boss gave me the entire holiday season off for working so hard lately," China answered, still not looking at the probing violet eyes that were studying him closely. "I find myself at a loss of what to do with my time."

"But you could go to Japan's,_ da_? It would probably suit you better than here."

"Japan's spending Christmas in Greece," China answered shortly. Russia lowered his eyes, and China hurried to correct any misconceptions his statement might have caused. "I-I mean, I wouldn't have wanted to spend it with him anyway! We don't really get along well enough to spend more than two days in each other's constant company."

"Then you want to stay here?" Russia asked. He tried to disguise anything that might be in his voice, staring steadily at the other country with closed off eyes. China looked back at him, open and honest and determined.

"I wouldn't have come if I hadn't."

…

**Thanks for reading guys! Review!**

**С Рождеством Христовым! ****聖誕快樂****! (Please tell me if those are wrong…)**


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